(Thanks to Jeff Clark)I have made available my review essay on Gillian Tett's new book, Fool's Gold", her analysis of the history and causes of the present financial crisis. You can download it either from my website or from SSRN.
Gillian Tett is both a visiting fellow at the University of Westminster School of Law and a social anthropologist by training. It is her persona as social scientist that gives her an interesting perspective on the financial crisis and its players. I recommend the book as a gripping and first-class read.
I would also like to thank Peter D. Lederer, Joe Tanega, Jason Chuah, and Viktoria Baklanova for their help and corrections.
Now it's on to the next one....
Comments
you make a good point about the apparent silence on lawyers' role in all this. But the lack of applicable regulatory provisions would have left them without much of a legal basis for resisting the intense pressure to get the deals done, especially when the credit risk people gave a green light. And lack of disclosure in filings could also be explained by their own clients' apparent lack of understanding of the material facts/risks. At any rate, the bankers are still up to the same old tricks amidst a continuing regulatory vacuum (http://sdj-pragmatist.blogspot.com/2009/07/fools-gold-fools-paradise.html). We therefore need to deal with the reality that the financial markets will always elude attempts to control them.
Bashar H. Malkawi